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WITNESSES.

B. A. BALLOU. Gem Setting,

Patented June 7,1881.

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

BARTON A. BALLOU, OF PROVIDENCE, RHODE ISLAND.

GEM-SETTING.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 242,422, dated June '7, 1881.

Application filed April 7, 1881. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, BARTON A. BALLoU, of the city and county of Providence, in the State of Rhode Island, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Gem-Settings; and I declare the following to be a specification thereof, reference being bad to the accompanying drawings.

Like letters indicate like parts.

Figure 1 is a side elevation of a stud embodying my invention. Fig. 2 is a diametrical vertical section of the same. Fig. 3 is a detail view.

My invention is adapted to studs and other articles of jewelry ornamented with gems, and is especially useful for the kind of gem-setting known as the Oriental setting, in which the customary prongs or cramps are dispensed with.

My invention consists of a detachable case or receptacle for the jewel, enabling the easy setting or removal of the gem and its confinement in the desired position by screwing said case into a supporting-ring formed upon the under surface of the stud or other piece of jewelry, and allowing the faces of the gem to be displayed through a central aperture in front in the usual manner.

I will describe my invention as applied to a bosom-stud.

The stud A has a flange, a, and is made with the usual central aperture for the display of thejewel B. Upon the inner side of the stud,

and concentric with said aperture, is soldered a metallic ring, 0. This ring is made with a screw-thread upon its interior circumference, and constitutes a support for the jewel case or receptacle D, which is a circular disk surrounded by a flange to form a box-like compartment having the external circumference provided with a screw-thread to engage with the inner surface of the ring 0. The wire E is attached to the disk of the case D. The jewel B rests in the case D, which is screwed into the ring 0, and thus the jewel is inserted upon the under side of the stud through the central aperture, and is securely fastened in position by the case beneath and the edgesof the aperture above, said aperture being made of a diameter' slightly less than that of the gem. A pin, 1), may be inserted through, the edge of the disklof the case D, to enter the edge of the ring 0, in order to prevent the loosening of the screw. The case D and pin b are shown in section in solid black in Fig. 2.

To remove the gem I withdraw the pin 1) and unscrew the case D, thus detaching the parts.

It is obvious that instead of screwing the case D into the ring 0, I may use the ring itselt'as a case, and may close its outer end by screwing a cap, D, over it, or by means of a plug to be secured in place by soft solder; but such a modification of my device would be within my invention, which consists, essentially, in forming a jewel-case upon the under 6 side of the stud and beneath the central aperture thereof. I prefer the fastening by means of a screw-thread, because of the greater facility in setting or removing the gem, and especially because such a fastening requires no soldering, and therefore cannot injure the external finish of the jewelry by the heat attending that process.

By using myimproved device of gem-setting I gain several important advantages, besides 5 the greater ease and rapidity of setting the stone. I can subject the exterior portion of the jewelry to the usual acid coloring to make the Roman-gold finish, and having inserted the jewel in place can use for the attachable parts a polished plated stock. I can set the stone snugly and crowd it to its place by means of the screw and hold it securely in position, and can substitute one stone for another at pleasure, thus making each setting available for a variety of jewels. The most costly gems can be in this manner set with absolute safety, as no setting can excel this in security. I can use for the front of the stud (or other piece of jewelry) a stock less heavily plated than has 0 been hitherto required, for whereas in the common method of Oriental setting the stock must be cut down to form an internal rim for the stone to rest upon, and the gold plate must be sufficiently thick to burnish down around the 9 5 base of the stone to hold it in place, by my improved device the stone is set through the back of the stud instead of the front, and it makes no difference how thick or thin the outer gold plate may be; and, finally, as the base of the stone is wholly concealed by my method of setting, a cheap stone,with the usual 7 V l s N,

porting-ring O of the plate A, substantially as specified.

2. The combination of the perforated plate A and ring 0, constituting a jewel-receptacle I5 closed by a screw-cap or plug, D, substantially as and for the purpose specified.

BARTON A. BALLOU.

Witnesses:

WARREN R. PERoE, WALTER 0. SMITH. 

